June 06, 2009 by Montana Cats Staff
Glasgow, MT 6/6/09 – This year’s event provided an all-new obstacle for fisherman as the weather hovered around 40 degrees with a constant drizzle throughout the tournament. Couple that with the fact that the Milk River flows had taken a major downturn over the last week, due to irrigation and a lack of precipitation. It was going to take a brilliant effort to bring in a large stringer.
The cold weather and drastic low water coudn’t stop the dynamic catfishing duo of Nate and Jerry Molstad. The Molstads stole the show Saturday night in downtown Glasgow as they took home their second Cat Classic title in three years. It wasn’t a record setting performance like 2007, but this was just as impressive. They used the popular run and gun approach to help land their 5 cats weighing in at 22.7 lbs. Patience and preparation paid off for the father-son combo, as Nate landed a 10.7 lb. Milk River trophy at 11:00 p.m. catapulting them atop the leader board. Their large Catfish tied for the 2nd largest cat ever weighed in at the Classic. The Molstads become just the second team in tournament history to win the title twice, joining Brenner and Jason Flaten.
The “young gun” team of Jake Knaff and Joe Shipp had a great night on the muddy banks of the Milk as well, as they were the only other team in the 60-team field to crack the 20-pound barrier. They both had this to say, “It’s about time!”, expressing relief after several years of frustrating finishes. Mud puppies proved to be the key for the duo and it helped them land a 10.7 lb. beast that would also tie the 2nd largest catfish in tournament history. Similar to previous years, the local anglers proved tough to beat as 18 of the top 20 teams were either from the area or grew up near the Milk River.
Once again FWP assisted in weighing, measuring, and tagging all 181 catfish that were caught and each one was released back into the Milk River to fight another day. The Montana Catfish Association is proud to report a 0% mortality rate from this weekends event. Tournament anglers continue to do an excellent job of keeping the fish healthy regardless of the fishing conditions. A crowd of nearly 300 people enjoyed the famous midnight weigh-ins, as 47 teams would weigh in fish. The weigh-ins were moved to the Valley Event Center this year due to the weather conditions, but promise to be returning to their traditional outside location in downtown Glasgow on Saturday June 5th, 2010. The events surrounding this annual tournament continue to grow at an all-time high as the Friday night Calcutta/Social, hosted by the Montana Bar, was packed wall-to-wall with people once again. From the scenes of the high bidders to the big fish stories that are told, this is a can’t miss weekend for everyone in the Glasgow community and surrounding area.
Pictures for this event can be found here.
| Nate Molstad & Jake Knaff | 10.70 lbs. | Jumbo Whiskers Award |
| 1. | Nate Molstad, Havre, MT. – Jerry Molstad, Glasgow, MT. | 22.7 lbs. |
| 2. | Joe Shipp, Glasgow, MT. – Jake Knaff, Glasgow, MT. | 20.1 lbs. |
| 3. | Mark Jackson, Vandalia, MT. – Steve Wellendorf, Glasgow, MT. | 15.5 lbs. |
| 4. | Brady Flaten, Glasgow, MT. – Jason Molstad, Glasgow, MT. | 14.7 lbs. |
| 5. | Don Resseguie, Great Falls, MT. – Kevin Durell, Glasgow, MT. | 14.4 lbs. |
| 6. | Adam Morehouse, Glasgow, MT. – Kirk Boyer, Glasgow, MT. | 13.5 lbs. |
| 7. | Ricci Olson, Glasgow, MT. – Dustin Mavity, Glasgow, MT. | 13.2 lbs. |
| 8. | Ed Sugg, Glasgow, MT. – Storm Jackson, Glasgow, MT. | 12.5 lbs. |
| 9. | Chad Dawson, Glasgow, MT. – Myles Kittleson, Glasgow, MT. | 12.2 lbs. |
| 10. | Seth Combs, Glasgow, MT. – Blaine Berg, Glendive, MT. | 11.2 lbs. |
| 11. | Lars Sorensen, Fort Peck, MT. – Dave Sorensen, Fort Peck, MT | 10.8 lbs. |
| 12. | Karen Jackson, Vandalia, MT. – Tracy Krause, Glasgow, MT. | 10.5 lbs. |
| 13. | DJ Elletson, Glasgow, MT. – Brendan Waarvik, Glasgow, MT. | 9.8 lbs. |
| 14. | VACATED | 9.6 lbs. |
| 15. | Markie Johnston, Glasgow, MT. – Larry Hockhalter, Glasgow, MT. | 9.5 lbs. |
| 16. | Ross Kastet, Glasgow, MT. – Cody Dix, Glasgow, MT. | 9.2 lbs. |
| 17. | Jason Flaten, Gillette, WY. – Tyler George, Billings, MT. | 9.1 lbs. |
| Dave Fuller, Fort Peck, MT. – Ryan Lott, Fort Peck, MT | 9.1 lbs. | |
| 19. | Jory Casterline, Glasgow, MT. – Cole Plouffe, Glasgow, MT. | 8.9 lbs. |
| 20. | Phil Leck, Ashton, ID. – Ryan Trustem, Powell, WY. | 8.8 lbs. |
| 21. | Steve Harris, Sidney, MT. – Chad Nelson, Sidney, MT. | 8.2 lbs. |
| 22. | Benjamin Guy, Moccasin, MT. – Barbara Guy, Moccasin, MT | 7.4 lbs. |
| 23. | Colin Kemmis, Glasgow, MT. – Calvin Kemmis, Glasgow, MT. | 7.0 lbs. |
| 24. | Colton Hill, Glasgow, MT. – Chris Kolstad, Glasgow, MT. | 6.9 lbs. |
| 25. | Pat Irwin, Glasgow, MT. – Silver Tihista, Nashua, MT. | 6.8 lbs. |
| 26. | Luke Morehouse, Glasgow, MT. – Steven Falcon, Glasgow, MT. | 6.5 lbs. |
| Brian Mix, Glasgow, MT. – Kelvin Morehose, Glasgow, MT. | 6.5 lbs. | |
| 28. | Josh Keller, Havre, MT. – Levi Sugg, Glasgow, MT. | 5.6 lbs. |
| 29. | Kim Zeitner, Billings, MT. – Tianna Flaten, Gillette, WY. | 5.1 lbs. |
| 30. | Shawn Wersal, Glasgow, MT. – Jake Aune, Glasgow, MT. | 4.8 lbs. |
| 31. | Heather Monson, Glasgow, MT. – Kelly Monson, Glasgow, MT. | 4.5 lbs. |
| 32. | Cody Odom, Opheim, MT. – Mitch McIntyre, Glasgow, MT. | 4.4 lbs. |
| Brittney Wersal, Glasgow, MT. – Dara Morehouse, Glasgow, MT. | 4.4 lbs. | |
| 34. | Norm Braaten, Fort Peck, MT. – Dustin Braaten, Glendive, MT. | 4.3 lbs. |
| 35. | Cade Flaten, Glasgow, MT. – Josh Neumiller, Glasgow, MT. | 3.9 lbs. |
| Sam Morehouse, Glasgow, MT. – Leo Pattison, Glasgow, MT. | 3.9 lbs. | |
| 37. | Paul Siefert, Glasgow, MT. – Jodie Siefert, Glasgow, MT. | 3.7 lbs. |
| 38. | Drew Henry, Glasgow, MT. – Courtney McFarlin, Glasgow, MT. | 3.2 lbs. |
| CJ Kemmis, Glasgow, MT. – Ashley Stewart, Glasgow, MT. | 3.2 lbs. | |
| Curtis Shipman, Glasgow, MT. – Bob Harrington, Glasgow, MT. | 3.2 lbs. | |
| Brady Burgess, Gillette, WY. – Jake Hammer, Gillette, WY. | 3.2 lbs. | |
| 42. | Todd Young, Glasgow, MT. – Matt Tribby, Glasgow, MT. | 3.0 lbs. |
| Brent McRae, Jordan, MT. – Charles McRae, Jordan, MT | 3.0 lbs. | |
| 44. | J.R. Cusker, Nashua, MT. – Kaitlin Cusker, Nashua, MT. | 2.7 lbs. |
| 45. | Ryan Smith, Bozeman, MT. – Garrett Gardner, Bozeman, MT | 2.5 lbs. |
| 46. | Wayne Shipp, Glasgow, MT. – Della Shipp, Glasgow, MT. | 1.5 lbs. |
| 47. | Landon Holte, Fort Peck, MT. – Tyler Haddix, Fort Peck, MT. | 0.6 lbs. |
| 48. | Joleen Cotton, Glasgow, MT. – Christi Moss, Glasgow, MT. | 0 lb. |
| Randy Elletson, Glasgow, MT. – John Kalinski, Glasgow, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| Trevor Grueb, Faith, SD. – Shane Zeidler, Dickinson, ND. | 0 lb. | |
| Wayne Linder, Scobey, MT. – Tyler Tarum, Richland, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| Karter Kleeman, Killdeer, ND. – Lico Sifuentes, Gillette, WY. | 0 lb. | |
| Lois McIntyre, Glasgow, MT. – Jim McIntyre, Glasgow, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| John Britzman, Glasgow, MT. – BJ Kemp, Glasgow, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| Louie Monson, Glasgow, MT. – Randy Cumber, Glasgow, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| Zak Peterson, Dickinson, ND. – Bruce Peterson, Fort Peck, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| Rafe Espinoza Dickinson, ND. – Andy Simms, Powell, WY. | 0 lb. | |
| Stuart Rubner, Fargo, ND. – Dawn Sugg, Glasgow, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| Tara Harrington, Glasgow, MT. – Allan Harrington, Glasgow, MT. | 0 lb. | |
| 60. | Matt Unterscher, Glendive, MT. – Jeff Unterscher, Glendive, MT. | 0 lb. |
Posted in: Milk River Catfish Classic
